‘Impact Inventing’: Inventors transform lives in India and around the world

Impact inventing is likely to be a key feature in future innovations which transform life in countries such as India.

TNN | Updated: Oct 16, 2015, 17:14 IST

Dr. Shashi Buluswar from the University of California, Berkeley, speaking at Lemelson Foundation’s 20th annive... Read More

WASHINGTON: 'Impact Inventing', a form of innovation designed to change the lives of masses living in poverty around the world, found itself in the spotlight of the Lemelson Foundation’s 20th anniversary conference held in Washington recently. Impact inventing is likely to be a key feature in future innovations which transform life in countries such as India.

The event was attended by innovation leaders from Africa, Asia, South America as well as from the United States. Speakers included Paul Basil and PN Ganapathy from Villgro, Harish Hande from SELCO, Dr. Abhishek Sen, co-founder of Biosense, and Dr. Shashi Buluswar from the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Buluswar discussed the scientific and technological breakthroughs that are needed for sustainable global development. He asserted that the most useful inventions are those which transform the lives of the most people. Using a structured problem definition evaluation approach, he and his team at Berkeley created a list of 51 future inventions that would have the greatest impact on the world when they are finally invented. These include issues in agriculture, healthcare, and energy. One potential invention, for example, a low cost, off-grid refrigeration for preserving vaccines in rural areas, would transform healthcare in rural emerging world areas.

Dr. Abhishek Sen, co-founder of Biosense, talked about how the challenge is being able to get the cost of technologies that already exist down to a fraction of their current cost. His team helped develop ultra low cost diagnostic devices, including devices to check blood sugar, as well as a smartphone based portable diagnostic system. For aspiring inventors, Dr. Sen emphasized the importance of the inventor to understand their environment, and encouraged potential inventors to live in poor villages for a time to understand the needs of the people.

Representatives from Villgro, a nonprofit innovation incubator, and SELCO, solar energy company, continued this discussion, highlighting some of the practical aspects of scaling innovation in India.

‘Impact Inventing,’ as popularized by The Lemelson Foundation, will be a driving force in the world of innovation for emerging and third world countries in the future. It has 3 characteristics: positive social impact, environmental responsibility, and financial self-sustainment. Earlier this week, the Foundation released a study examining how to close gaps in the impact inventing ecosystem.

All Comments ()+^ Back to Top

Characters Remaining: 3000

Continue without login

or

Login from existing account

FacebookGoogleEmail

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.